Sunday, May 5, 2013

Recombinant Memetics and Narrative Networks

Structural Forces

Macdonald Educational (A Unit For Teachers), published for the Schools Council by MacDonald Educational Ltd., London, 1972-1973

Recombinant Memetics

This one's quite speculative, and it's technically speaking
still in the proto-science phase. But it'll only be a matter of time before
scientists get a better handle on the human noosphere (the collective body of
all human information) and how the proliferation of information within it impacts
upon virtually all aspects of human life.

Similar to recombinant DNA (in which different genetic
sequences are brought together to create something new), recombinant memetics
is the study of how memes (ideas that spread from person to person) can be adjusted
and merged with other memes and memeplexes (a cohesive collection of memes,
like a religion) for beneficial or ‘socially therapeutic' purposes (such as
combating the spread of radical and violent ideologies). This is similar to the
idea of 'memetic engineering' — which philosopher Daniel Dennett suggested
could be used to maintain cultural health. Or what DARPA is currently doing via
their ‘narrative control' program.

Mark Twain once tried
to distinguish between the storyteller’s art and tales that a machine could
generate:

To string incongruities and absurdities together in a
wandering and sometimes purposeless way, and seem innocently unaware that they
are absurdities, is the basis of the American art, if my position is correct.
Another feature is the slurring of the point. A third is the dropping of a
studied remark apparently without knowing it, as if one were thinking aloud.
The fourth and last is the pause.

The pause is an exceedingly important feature in any kind of
story, and a frequently recurring feature, too. It is a dainty thing, and
delicate, and also uncertain and treacherous; for it must be exactly the right
length--no more and no less--or it fails of its purpose and makes trouble. If
the pause is too short the impressive point is passed, and [and if too long]
the audience have had time to divine that a surprise is intended--and then you
can't surprise them, of course.

Darpa is asking scientists to “take narratives and make them
quantitatively analyzable in a rigorous, transparent and repeatable fashion.”

The program is called “Narrative Networks.” By understanding
how stories have shaped your mind, the Pentagon hopes to sniff out who has
fallen prey to dangerous ideas, a neuroscience researcher involved in the
project tells Danger Room.

In the first 18-month phase of the program, the Pentagon
wants researchers to study how stories infiltrate social networks and alter our
brain circuits.

Once scientists have perfected the science of how stories
affect our neurochemistry, they will develop tools to “detect narrative
influence.” These tools will enable “prevention of negative behavioral outcomes
… and generation of positive behavioral outcomes, such as building trust.”

When the project enters into a second 18-month phase, it’ll
use the research gathered to build “optimized prototype technologies in the
form of documents, software, hardware and devices”.

DARPA is soliciting innovative research proposals in the
areas of (1) quantitative analysis
of narratives, (2) understanding the effects narratives have on human psychology and its affiliated neurobiology, and (3) modeling, simulating, and sensing-especially in
stand-off modalities.

One: Narrative
Analysis. Ascertaining exactly what function stories enact, and by what
mechanisms they do so… […] This goal serves to ascertain who is telling stories
to whom and for what purpose, and to discover latent indicators of the spread
and influence of narrative tropes in structures such as social networks,
traditional and social media, and in conversation.

1. Develop new, and extend existing narrative theories. …nature
of stories, including, but not limited to, a list of necessary and sufficient
conditions that help distinguish narrative stimuli from other stimuli. …kinematics
and dynamics of story ontology. …structure and function of narratives,
including identifying and discussing aspects of narratives that are universal
versus aspects that vary considerably across cultural or social contexts.

2. …role of narrative in security contexts. …role and extent
stories play in influencing political violence. …political radicalization and
how they can influence a person or group’s choice of means (such as
indiscriminant violence) to achieve political ends. …influence
bystanders-to-conflict in terms of shaping their attitudes and perceptions. …shape
the process of negotiation, especially between key stakeholders. …relationship
between narratives and the mechanisms that generate and reinforce psychiatric
or clinical conditions. …impact of narratives on attitudes and perceptions.

3. …quantitatively analyzable in a rigorous, transparent and
repeatable fashion. …establish a framework for the scientific study of the
psychological and neurobiological impact of stories on people. …how stories
propagate in a system so as to influence behavior. Identify temporal and
spatial dimensions of narratives in different media...

Two: Narrative
Neurobiology. Since the brain is the proximate cause of our actions,
stories have a direct impact on the neurobiological processes of both the
senders and receivers of narratives. …explanations of salient narrative
psychological phenomena such as engagement, transportation, immersion, and
synchronization are highly encouraged.

2. …impact on the neurobiology of memory, learning and
identity. […] Explore the differential influence of stories on neurotransmitter
systems as compared to other environmental stimuli. Determine how stories
impact the neurobiology of important identity-related judgments, such as whom
you consider to be a member of your in-group and whom you count as an out-group
member.

4. …neurobiology of moral judgment. …neural mechanism or
mechanisms by which narratives affect judgments about moral guilt and
innocence, or the moral permissibility and/or impermissibility of certain
actions.

5. …brain mechanisms related to social cognition. Determine
how narratives differentially affect the neurobiological basis of theory of
mind and judgments of the mental states of others. Identify and explore how stories
influence neural mechanisms responsible for the generation and sustainment of
collective action or group behavior. [MTD] Determine if and by what
mechanisms stories uniquely synchronize or sustain the neural mechanisms of
shared attention, collaboration, joint problem-solving and trust.

1. …modeling and simulating influence. Baseline against
existing models of the influence process to determine the best extant methods
of understanding and forecasting influence. …consideration of narrative-driven
mental and neurobiological states and the variables which influence them. …capturing
the transition from changes in beliefs, desires and attitudes to actions.
[MTD]

2. […] Identify whether existing influence models can be
improved by the addition of a narrative “layer.” …ontology and transition
states of this layer. Validate and verify the model in at least one potentially
iterable testable domain (such as forecasting the success of advertising,
movies, public relations campaigns or reception of disaster relief
interventions).

3. Develop non-standard and novel sensor suites keyed to the
variables and processes identified in new or improved influence models.
Baseline against current technologies for detecting and measuring indirect
indicators of neural activity (such as capillary dilation, galvanic skin
response, eye pupil dilation, gaze direction, micro-facial feature analysis,
etc.), and against current standoff technologies for more direct detection and
measurement (such as sensing neurobiological compounds). […]

About Me

First things first, that's not a picture of me, although it could be any one of us. It's a painting by Alex Grey.
Next, the blog Limbic Signal is an extension of my book Hidden Scents, and the blog Network Address is a personal archive that I like to keep online for easy access.
Last, I'm a thirty-something male from Suburbia, New Jersey, a high school visual arts instructor, independent researcher, and writer.
Hidden Scents The Language of Smell in the Age of Approximation is my first attempt at authoring a work of non-fiction, and serves as a response to the dearth of information on the topic of Smell.